Wellness Trends in 2021: 2020 was a year of unprecedented changes in our lives and routines. Our lives came to a screeching halt, and for the first time in years, we had the time and occasion to focus on our overall well-being.
While the world navigated with a pandemic, there was an inevitable and significant shift in our approach and scope of wellness.
Wellness now is much more than the traditional idea of a physically healthy body. Wellness now constitutes our mental, social, spiritual, intellectual, occupational, and environmental, and financial well-being as well. All these dimensions of wellness are evident in the wellness trends around the globe.
What are some of the exciting wellness trends that we should keep an eye out for in 2021? Let us find out.
Table of Contents
1. Community Care
The irreplaceable role of a community in individual health and wellness resurfaced in 2020. So much of our well-being depends on how society as a whole is functioning at the moment. When the community thrives, individual lives thrive with it.
However, the institutions’ systemic flaws and inequalities, especially in the healthcare and wellness industries, have never been more evident than in the past year, when the entire world bore the brunt of a novel coronavirus. While frontline health workers stood firm at their resolve to fight the disease, many backward sections of the society did not have access to adequate health and wellness aid.
Moreover, staying indoors for months on end meant people finally realizing the importance of a connected community and society to keep sane.
In 2021, this sense of togetherness will not only prevail but grow, with more and more people contributing their time, energy, and skills, for the betterment of the community.
2. Mindful Eating
The wellness trend of mindful eating will indeed witness another year of relevance in 2021. Diet has become an integral part of people’s fitness routines. However, more and more wellness coaches and professionally trained nutritionists advise against eliminating particular food and nutrient categories from one’s diet.
Instead, they encourage being mindful and aware of what you put into your body while respecting your body’s needs and cravings.
Additionally, the practice of upcycling ugly-looking vegetables and food scraps will lead to sustainable and healthier eating habits.
3. Digital Detoxes
Our digital and virtual lives have so seamlessly permeated into our actual lives that it has become next to impossible to separate the two.
The energy that we let in through our digital lives is more negative than positive. The constant negativity in social media, television, and news channels affects our mental and emotional wellbeing more than we give them credit.
In 2021, digital detoxes have a high probability of becoming a lasting trend. These detoxes will help people disconnect from the fascinating digital world, where every pop-up notification might act as a trigger.
Disconnecting from social media, work emails, and phones for some time can do wonders for the mental well-being of a person. Digital detoxes will allow people some real-time for introspection, mindful meditation, or maybe, a long walk amidst nature: simple joys that we otherwise ignore.
4. Realistic and Flexible Goals
All of us had those big, magnificent, ten-years-down-the-line goals. But then 2020 happened, and we realized the importance of the now.
With the world throwing new curve balls at us every other day, we never know where we might end up the next month or the following week. It is easy for us to get disoriented with those big goals when struggling to maintain a sense of normalcy. Consequently, we are demotivated and disheartened.
For this very reason, 2021 will be about setting, working for, and realizing realistic and achievable micro-goals. Instead of putting all our efforts into that one big five-year plan, we shift our focus to milestones on the journey. These might seem small but are nonetheless significant to boost our morale and keep us going.
5. Ecotherapy
In 2020, therapy sessions between clients and therapists shifted from indoors to outdoors because of obvious safety concerns.
Therapists began seeing their patients outside, and with this came the relevance of ecotherapy. Ecotherapy places significance on the connection between nature, the surrounding environment, and the person’s overall wellbeing.
Ecotherapy has its advantages over telehealth or teletherapy, where the essence of a close physical presence is lacking.
In 2021, ecotherapy as a wellness trend will continue to be relevant. Therapists can join clients on a nature trail, a beach walk, or a trek in the woods.
6. Virtual Fitness Classes
Fitness centers and gyms have a limited capacity to meet the growing demand among people to join these centers. Moreover, COVID-19 guidelines and social distancing norms have further reduced the capacity to admit people in gyms and fitness classes.
This has led to the popularity of virtual fitness classes. Virtual fitness classes allow for an extended reach among fitness enthusiasts and beginners. People can follow the instructions of the fitness experts live, from their homes’ comfort and safety.
7. Wellness Travel
The past year witnessed a rather dramatic and long pause in our travel plans. Coming in terms with a world with COVID-19 will mean that our travel getaways will shift from mindless vacation plans to more mindful wellness travel.
Travel experiences are all set to become more about reconnecting with oneself, outdoor adventures, and finding harmony in nature, than about that luxurious stay at an expensive resort. Travel will be less about impulsive getaways and more about a well-intentioned escape to find stability.
Final Words
The world changed drastically this past year, and so did our expectations and experiences with overall wellness.
In addition to these wellness trends, 2021 might also witness a growing awareness about financial wellness, building immunity, sleep care, and making the wellness industry much more diverse and inclusive.
It will be an exciting prospect to observe where the world of wellness is headed. As long as we continue taking small steps, the journey will be fulfilling.
Author Bio:
Priyakshi Sharma is a content marketer at Vantage Circle, an employee engagement platform, and Vantage Fit, an all-in-one corporate health and wellness solution. In her free time, she is found writing about cinema, life, and everything in between.
